Sep 6 (DM) Sevmi Fernando, a daughter of a Sri Lankan couple who had migrated to Italy about 30 years ago has qualified for the finals of Miss Italia to be held tonight. Born in the town of Padua, Tharuka now aged 20 is a diploma holder of beauty culture and works as a model. She qualified for the finals of the Miss Italia contest after being crowned as the beauty queen at the Veneto Provincial contest. She became one of the 187 contestants selected from regional contests and more..

Sep 6 (RN) Amid much uncertainty and speculation over the party�s 2020 presidential bid, PM Ranil Wickremesinghe has indicated that he may field himself as the UNP�s candidate for the executive presidency, with Deputy Leader Sajith Premadasa as his running mate. A UNP source said that in a meeting of senior Ministers held at Temple Trees this morning, Wickremesinghe had hinted that he might run. more..

Sep 6 (EN) Sri Lankan retailer Odel is lobbying the government to reduce import duties and help make the island an attractive shopping destination for tourists who make up a big chunk of its customers, its chairman Ashok Pathirage said. �Odel is working closely with both the government and policy-makers to reduce the duty on imports to render Sri Lanka as an attractive shopping destination to tourists on par or even better than other regional shopping hubs,� he said. more..

Sep 6 (AD) One person has died in a shooting incident that took place inside an SLTB bus in Elpitiya this morning. According to reports, a passenger inside the bus, which was travelling from Aluthgama to Elpitiya, had opened fire at the victim. The shooting happened at around 8.05 am today near Bogaha Junction at Etakohote, Elpitiya while the victim was on his way to attend a court hearing. Shooting victim, who was shot in the presence of his mother & sister, had succumbed to injuries more..

Sep 6 (DM) PM's Secretary Saman Ekanayake testifying at the Presidential Commission today said the lease agreement with D.P.A. Jayasinghe & Company to rent out a building for the agricultural ministry in 2016 was signed without the Attorney General's approval. He said if the Agricultural Ministry had sought the AG's approval there would have not been any loopholes in the agreement but the ministry more..

Sep 6 (RN) Amnesty International (AI) has made an Urgent Action appeal for writer Shakthika Sathkumara, urging sympathisers to appeal the Attorney General to drop all charges against him. �While he was released on bail by the High Court on 5 August, after spending four months in prison, the charges against him are still pending and he could face up to 10 years in prison if found guilty,� AI Canada said in a widely circulated email. Sathkumara was arrested on 1 April more..

Sep 6 (SNA) A Sri Lankan national who pleaded guilty for fishing illegally in the Seychelles� waters will be repatriated to his country as a prohibited immigrant as part of the sentence imposed by the Supreme Court. According to court record obtained on Wednesday, Kostawatta Thamel was caught fishing in the waters of Seychelles on February 28 onboard a SL-flagged boat �Nuwan Putha 14, IMULAN 0831 KLT with no license or authorisation in violation of Fisheries Act 2014. more..

Sep 6 (EN) President Maithripala Sirisena has signed documents seeking the extradition of ex-CB Governor Arjuna Mahendran from Singapore, a statement said. President Sirisena, in his capacity as Minister of Defence had signed file with 21,000 pages, prepared by the Attorney General, to be sent to Singapore. The documents would be given to the Foreign Ministry to be sent to Singapore, the statement said. more..

Sep 7 (Island) It may sound rather frivolous, daring and even audacious to call Prof Carlo Fonseka just a superlative man. For that matter, even to call him a human being like no other is perhaps a monumental understatement. He was a whole lot more than that. Many a scribe has written about Prof Carlo Fonseka, before, and even after his departure from this mortal world on the 2nd of Sept 2019. Very many are the articles that have come up within the last few days describing a variegated plethora of different more..

Sep 7 (CT) When an Act is passed by Parliament it becomes Law. Everyone has to abide by it. Parliament of SL passed the Provincial Councils Elections (Amd) Act of 2017, which was certified on 22nd September, 2017. This was an amendment to the original Provincial Councils Elections Act No.2 of 1988. This Act was passed by the Parliament following a constitutional amendment as published in the gazette in Oct 1987, which came to be known as the 13th Amendment of the Constitution. more..

Sep 7 (Roar) On the dark, tropical island of �O�, humans and spirits live in harmony, and Queen Devi shares a mystical connection with the magical phoenix Maatha�from whom the women of the island derive their spirituality and power. When a Prince hears of the beautiful women of the island and invades, abducting the Queen and her phoenix, the spiritual balance of the island is lost, and chaos descends. Maya, young woman from more..

Sep 7 (DM) It has been said of women, largely by misogynists, that men can�t do with or without them. The same can be said of the Sajith factor: the UNP can�t do with or without it. It has also been said of the US Republican Party, by those opposed to it but not its founding principles, that it began with Abraham Lincoln and ended with George Bush Junior. Perhaps, the same can be said of the Grand (Green?) Old Party: that it began with D.S. and ended with Ranil. more..

Sep 7 (DM) The JVP has a storied past. Its romanticist appeal enthralled the masses; in 1971, the now-infamous insurrection, though based fundamentally on violent overthrow of a democratically-elected govt drew the attention and an enigmatic attraction from the youth of the day, especially undergraduates, has been written into our history as a groundbreaking political event. Its failure as a part of revolutionary warfare arose many a suspicion and the ultimate disillusionment more..

Sep 7 (ST) Clear and strong are the calls for STEM, gathering momentum from across the globe. STEM or Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics has been the very focus of a group which got-together to promote just that in Sri Lanka not yesterday or today but 75 years ago. Buried in the dim mists of time are the foundations on which Sri Lanka has built up its science programmes, beginning in 1944 with more..

Sep 7 (CT) In many aspects, Lithuania bears a resemblance to SL. Lithuania is located in Northern Europe, with an area of 65,000 square km, surprisingly similar to SL's area of 65,610 square km. Lithuania is fondly known by the visitors as a land full of surprises, with glorious green cover and picturesque landscapes across the country, which is a similar source of pride for SL. Apart from the landscape and natural resources that the two countries are gifted with by nature, more..

Sep 7 (DN) SLFP is 68 years old today (Sept 3). I am also 68 today. Let us mobilize people�s movements and form a new govt in 2020. Prez Sirisena�s above statement and several other points he made at the 68th-anniversary celebrations of the SLFP indicate the options available to the SLFP to play a decisive role in the next govt. At the same time, he pointed out that the primary focus of SLFP should be to win the next parliamentary elections scheduled for 2020 rather than prez election more..

Sep 7 (CT) Prez Sirisena on Aug 18 named a General accused of war crimes as Commander of the SL Army, sparking concern over the appointment that the UN later termed deeply troubling. �I am deeply troubled by the appointment of Lt-General Shavendra Silva as Commander of the SL Army, despite the serious allegations of gross violations of int'l human rights and humanitarian law against him and his troops during the war,� the UN�s High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) more..

Sep 7 (Island) All questions that the Opposition posed to the govt went unanswered, in Parliament, on Thurs, as the ministers listed to answer them were absent. Opposition let out a howl of protest and, true to form, took the moral high ground, urging their govt counterparts to respect the privileges and rights of the MPs. It is not infrequently that most MPs absent themselves, leaving P'ment inquorate & causing colossal amounts of public funds spent on parliamentary sessions to go down gurgler. more..

Sep 7 (Island) The passing away of Prof. Carlo Fonseka comes at a time when the country is rapidly moving away from the values and principles of causality that was the core rationale of this Man of the People. It is a sadness that will be shared by less and less of the people in power � in politics and many other spheres in society, as we are now in the Era of the Crooked and Corrupt. In one of his last interviews with the media, more..

Sep 7 (CI) 2- Number of times Lasith Malinga has picked up four wickets in four balls in international cricket, the only bowler to do so. He got Colin Munro, Hamish Rutherford, Colin de Grandhomme and Ross Taylor off successive balls in the third T20I in Pallekelle. Before this, he had achieved it in the 2007 World Cup against South Africa, with the wickets of Shaun Pollock, Andrew Hall, Jacques Kallis and Makhaya Ntini. Rashid Khan is the only other bowler to have taken 4 wts in 4 balls, more..

Sep 7 (CT) At the conclusion of the 4th and final day of the 2nd unofficial Test between the Emerging teams of Bangladesh (Ban-E) and the Sri Lanka (SL-E) at Sheikh Kamal Int'l Cricket Stadium, Cox's Bazar ended in a draw when play was made impossible by rain. Ban-E continuing with their overnight score of 208-3, backed by bamboozling and an unbroken 187-run partnership between skipper Nazmul Shanto and all-rounder Afif Hossain who stood unbeaten on 88, 100 respectively. more..

Sep 7 (ST) About 240 Sri Lankan scientists involved in 100 different research fields including medicine, agriculture, engineering and basic sciences were honoured at the 12th President�s Awards for Scientific Research. The awards were held in Colombo under the patronage of Prez Sirisena on Aug 26. Research peer reviewed and published in internationally recognised journals, is a measure of success of an endeavour. more..

Sep 7 (FT) Committee on Public Account (CoPA) ordered the Central Provincial Council to increase the tax on mini-hydropower plants as the income received from the sector is a pittance. CoPA also wanted the Central Provincial Council to take urgent measures to recover the long due Rs. 7.7 million tax from six mini-hydropower plants in Nuwara Eliya DS area. It was also decided a detailed report listing the names of owners, addresses, locations of mini-hydropower plants, more..

Sep 7 (CI) Lasith Malinga caused a stir when, as a 24-year-old, he took four wickets in four balls at the 2007 World Cup and left South Africa wobbling in the Super Eights. Twelve years on, it seems not much has changed. Not the highlights in his hair, nor the wiliness and skill. New Zealand were at the receiving end this time, in a T20I, falling to 15 for 4 in the span of four balls. Here's how ESPNcricinfo's ball-by-ball commentators from both matches called the action. 2.3 Malinga to Munro, OUT, more..

Sep 7 (CI) He's 36 years of age, not nearly as quick as he used to be, and almost everyone thought his career was done two years ago, but he's still got it. That yorker, the late swing, the dip, the accuracy, that low-arm sling: the works - he's still got it. Back in the 2007 World Cup, Lasith Malinga became the first bowler to take four wickets in four balls in almost 120 years of international cricket. Three further international hat-tricks later, more..

Sep 7 (FT) Fishermen in Mannar have appealed to the Government to build a fisheries harbour in Pesalai and support to stop Indian fishermen illegally fishing in Sri Lankan waters. The appeal was made when Vanni District MP and Minister Rishad Bathiudeen and Minister P. Harrison toured Mannar on 26 August and met fishermen and farmers. Minister Harrison also launched several farmer support projects in Mannar on the same day, the Industry and Commerce Ministry said. more..

Sep 7 (CT) At the end of 3 days of fierce competition, St. Joseph's College and Visakha Vidyalaya topped the rankings in the Boys' and Girls' categories with 211 and 195 points respectively at the 46th SL Schools Swimming Championship at the Sugathadasa swimming pool yesterday. Another 13 records were established on the third day and the first of these was by Sandu Savindi of Visakha Vidyalaya, who succeeded in establishing 2 new records in the morning session. more..

Sep 7 (DN) People will lose their democratic rights and personal freedom, if Gotabaya Rajapaksa is elected to govern on a platform harping on national security, Civil Society Movement Representatives said. They made these remarks at a media briefing, jointly organised by Sadarana Samajaya, Puravesi Balaya, Wame Kendraya and a few more in Rajagiriya. Convener Gamini Viyangoda said that people will lose their democratic more..

Sep 7 (Island) HSBC concluded yet another successful Premier Golf Tournament with the weather changing from drizzling to dazzling over the weekend. Spirits were shining bright as Rajeev Rajapakse became the overall winner of the tournament. Rajeev Rajapakse scored 37 points as the overall winner to take home the HSBC Premier Challenge Trophy 2019 and was also winner of the A&B divisions. Nishan Premathiratne was adjudged overall winner in C, Seniors & Ladies division more..

Sep 7 (TM) PM Ranil Wickremesinghe said he will appoint an independent committee to investigate the Easter Sunday attacks. Wickremesinghe was speaking at an event in Galle. PM�s decision comes in the wake of Colombo Archbishop Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith�s repeated calls for an independent and transparent probe into the attacks. He said the third committee will use the information gathered by the Prez Commission and PSC to conduct further independent investigations. more..

Sep 7 (Island) UPFA lawmaker Thilanga Sumathipala, said that the SLFP was seeking an electoral arrangement with the SLPP on both prez and parliamentary polls in Nov-Dec 2019 and early 2020, respectively. Sumathipala, a former Deputy Speaker asserted that the SLFP couldn�t reach a consensus with the SLPP at the expense of the party. Lawmaker Sumathipala said so in response to to The Island query, more..

Sep 7 (Stuff) Was any part of Lasith Malinga's front boot behind the line when he bowled the ripper to Colin de Grandhomme for his hat-trick? Some eagle-eyed viewers questioned the legality of the SL skipper's hat-trick delivery which splayed de Grandhomme's stumps in the third T20I in Kandy on Saturday. It was one of the great spells of limited overs bowling as Malinga snared a double hat-trick - four wickets in as many deliveries - on the way to figures of 5-6 as SL dismissed Black Caps more..

Sep 7 (FT) Ministry of Health launched the 24-hour MEDI CALL hotline 0766474777 for the public regarding urgent and life-saving drug information throughout the country. A special drug supply unit was also installed for health service providers island wide. The unit was opened at the Medical Supplies Division head office premises and will operate round the clock, throughout the year. "This unit will include medical pharmacists representing the Division and State Pharmaceuticals Corporation (SPC). more..

Sep 7 (Island) One-time PA National List MP and Ambassador to Teheran M.M. Zuhair urged the govt to inquire into NFF leader Wimal Weerawansa�s allegations pertaining to clandestine US operations here. If the former JVPer was trying to take political advantage, govt should deal with him accordingly. Zuhair issued the following statement in response to queries posed by The Island: "The alleged refusal by six US nationals to subject more..

Sep 7 (FT) The SL-India Society (SLIS) celebrated India�s 73rd Independence Day on 1 Sept at a function held at the Taj Samudra hotel in Colombo. Minister Sagala Ratnayaka was the Chief Guest and High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka Taranjit Singh Sandhu was the Guest of Honour. Justice of the Supreme Court of SL Justice S. Thurairajah, SLIS President T.S. Prakash, members of the Diplomatic community, leaders of the industry, and other dignitaries were also present. more..

Sep 7 (DM) Bringing back CB�s former governor Arjuna Mahendran to the country is not as easy as Prez Sirisena thinks, Dean of the Faculty of Law, Uni of Technology Jamaica, West Indies, Prof. Prathiba Mahanamahewa said. He told that there was no possible way of bringing Mr. Mahendran to SL at this stage despite the documents relating to extraditing him being signed by Prez. �We have not signed an extradition treaty with Singapore and SL�s extradition act will not carry any weight in Singapore,� more..

Sep 7 (DM) Ministers Lakshman Kiriella and Kabir Hashim had a showdown at today's meeting of UNP seniors. Recently, PM had requested Prez Sirisena to assign the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) which is presently under Mr. Hashim to Mr. Kiriella. But Mr. Kiriella is known to have resisted such moves. Prez had conveyed this to Mr. Kiriella and the other party senior who had met Prez last week. more..

Sep 7 (Island) One-time SLC Chief Thilanga Sumathipala, MP, questioned the circumstances under which the current dispensation had paid Rs 4 bn to China Harbour Company for the construction of Sooriyawewa cricket stadium et al. MP alleged that the payment had been made without proper scrutiny of the Chinese claim. He alleged that the SL Ports Authority played a controversial role in the payment in contravention of laws. MP said that Sooriyawewa stadium had been built in 2011 more..

Sep 7 (Island) Tamil UK activists held a meeting at the UK parliament against the Sri Lankan concerning alleged Enforced Disappearances and the on-going Tamil Diaspora campaign to get redress, UK based sources told The Island. Activists held a discussion at the House of Commons in London this week on Wednesday September 4th, 2019 in an event to mark the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances organised by the Transnational Govt of Tamil Eelam. more..